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Global Communities is an international development and humanitarian organization. Our mission is to be a catalyst for long-lasting positive change in low and moderate income communities around the world, helping them to improve their social, economic and environmental conditions.

Global Communities is an international non-profit organization that works closely with communities worldwide to bring about sustainable changes that improve the lives and livelihoods of the vulnerable. Development is not something we do for people; it is something we do with them. We believe that the people who understand their needs best are the people of the community itself.

We make a difference by engaging with communities, governments, the private sector and NGOs as partners for good – bringing together complementary strengths and shared responsibilities to work toward common goals. We envision a world where everyone has the freedom, means and ability to live and prosper with dignity.

Global Communities has existed for 60 years. Most recently we have been known as CHF International and, before that, the Cooperative Housing Foundation. We began in 1952 as the Foundation for Cooperative Housing.

Global Communities began working in India in 2003 with the implementation of the Sahbhagi Yojana 2 Support Program (SY2SP) with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in three cities in Gujarat, India: Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara.

In 2007, Global Communities expanded its activities addressing urban poverty in India with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation under a program called Slum Communities Achieving Liveable Environments with Urban Partners (SCALE-UP).

Currently, Global Communities is helping improve waste management services in slums in Bangalore with support from the Caterpillar Foundation. With the help of a Caterpillar Foundation investment, Global Communities opened the Kasa Rasa waste management facility—a 2,500 square-foot center that recycles 1.5 tons of solid waste per day, including organic waste that is composted on site.

With funding from the John Deere Foundation, the Slum Improvement Program builds upon Global Communities recent work in Pune to improve the living conditions and livelihoods of slum residents. The program focuses on making deep impacts in 6 slums and 4 villages while strengthening bottom-up planning practices and institutionalizing new poverty reduction programs within the local government.